


5 Times Natalie had Feelings for Toby (and one where she really realized it)

by achievement_huntresss



Category: Creepypasta - Fandom
Genre: 5 Times, Angst, Awkwardness, F/M, Failboats In Love, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, Mild Gore, Nightmares, Sharing a Bed, Slow Dancing, fic request
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-11-05 22:52:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17927915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/achievement_huntresss/pseuds/achievement_huntresss
Summary: A glimpse into the life of one Natalie Oullette, better known as Clockwork, and a few times in her life she had conflicting feelings for the first friend she made in her new life.





	5 Times Natalie had Feelings for Toby (and one where she really realized it)

**Author's Note:**

> This was requested and though I've never written for this pairing before, I tried my best!
> 
> I also don't really know anything about Creepypasta canon so! This is what you get! Sorry!

**I**

_Natalie moves through the dark house as quietly as possible. If she can just make it down the stairs, she'll be home free. The ticking from the clock in her eyes seems to grow louder as she begins to grow more frantic. The stairs seem like they're never-ending, like she's trapped to go down them for all eternity. Finally, she reaches the bottom of the stairs and allows herself to let out a single, shaky breath of relief._

 

_Her relief is short-lived though, as footsteps approach her. Before she can run or hide, or even reach for her knife, she's tackled to the floor. Natalie stares up in horror at her father's face. He's soaked in blood and his eyes are pure white. He spits blood on her face and smiles._

 

_"Oh Natalie," his voice is rough. "I was hoping you'd return-"_

 

_Natalie screams and thrashes underneath him. He just laughs and coughs up more blood._

 

_"Natalie-"_

 

"Natalie?"

 

Nat's eyes snap open and she immediately tackles the figure sitting above her. Within seconds she has them pinned, her knife to their throat. IT only takes a few seconds for the adrenaline to wear off, and she realizes Toby is looking up at her, neck straining away from her knife. She immediately scrambles off of him. Toby coughs, and rubs at his throat, sitting up.

 

The sit in silence for a while as Natalie calms down. She's not back at her old house. She's in the woods, on a mission with Toby. The fire they set up before going to sleep is nearly dead, just softly glowing embers. She glances at her thin blanket she'd been sleeping under and shivers. She looks back up at Toby, who is just staring at her concerned.

 

"I'm sorry," she offers. Toby kind of laughs at that, running a gloved hand through his messy hair.

 

"I sh-should be the one a-apologizing." He barks and shakes his head. "I shouldn't have tried to w-wake you up."

 

She stares at the ground. "Did I scream?"

 

Toby lifts his hand to knock a few times. "Not r-really. I woke up a while a-ago because of a b-bat I think. You were crying in your s-sleep though. I w-would ask if you had a b-bad dream, but I-I think you ta-tackling me with a knife kind-kind of answers that."

 

Natalie snorts. "Sorry about that again. I'm just... not used to someone being there when I wake up from them."

 

"I get that." He yips and cracks his neck. "D-do you want to talk about it?"

 

She shakes her head and reaches for her blanket. It's too thin to really bring any warmth to her body, and she glares at the dying fire, too tired both physically and emotionally to start a new one.

 

Toby starts to say something, but then quickly stops. Natalie raises an eyebrow at him. "What, Toby?"

 

"I-I was g-gonna say... It would be warmer if w-we shared th-the blankets m-maybe" He cracks his neck and looks away nervously. "O-only if you want to th-though! Just a s-stupid thought. S-sorry." He moved back over to where his equally thin blanket was and settled down underneath it, rubbing his hands together either to get warm or as a way to deal with his anxiety.

 

It was pretty much an open secret that Toby had a bit of a crush on her. All the others teased them both about it, but Natalie was very adamant about their relationship only being friends. Toby thankfully wasn't one of those guys who would bitch and moan over it, instead relishing the fact that he had a pretty cool new friend.

 

If she really wanted to think about it, Toby was one of the few people who was actually nice to her. And, yeah, some of that came from his crush, but it was mostly just from wanting someone to talk to. They enjoyed each other's company, seeking each other out occasionally when not on missions. And though she'd only been doing this for a few months, Natalie enjoyed the work she did, especially when she got to work with Toby.

 

Natalie groaned internally and squashed down any feelings she was thinking about. Better to not question anything about their friendship, especially when she was about to do what she was about to do. Still clutching her blanket, she crawled past the now cold campfire and sat next to Toby. He looked up at her in bewilderment as she threw her blanket over him and lifted the edges of both to lay down next to him.

 

"Not a word." She warned, her voice serious but her half smile pretty much gave her away. Toby laughed and yipped and put his head back down.

\----

When Natalie awoke at sunrise, she's pleasantly surprised she had no nightmares for once. As she becomes more awake, she realizes that Toby's arm is thrown over her waist and her head is under his chin. His chest is warm against her back and she can almost feel his heartbeat. She realizes that despite the early morning chill and the dew now dotting the grass, she's pleasantly warm and comfortable, even as they lay on uneven ground. 

 

She hums contentedly, and snuggles back into him. His arm tightens around her waist and for the first time in a very long time, she legitimately feels safe. Natalie sighs, and closes her eye.

 

They can talk about feelings much, much later. For now, she just wanted a few more hours of sleep.

 

**II**

Natalie hisses and slams her back against the door, clutching her arm. She can still hear the thunderous footsteps of the cop outside the bedroom she's currently stuck in. Relief fills her as she hears the familiar sound of screams and the gorey sounds of hatchets finding their way in the man's body (chest? head maybe? She couldn't tell that easily.) A few seconds of silence, then a light knock at the door.

 

"Nat?"

 

"Yeah I'm-" she gasps in pain. "Shit." She tried to move away from the door, blood pouring from in between her fingers.

 

Toby opens the door, and she can see the panic even from behind his goggles. He immediately sees the blood and rushes to her, helping her sit up and lean against the solid wood of the bed frame.

 

"The cop-" she tries to say but Toby shushes her. "It's o-okay," he says. "I took care of the guy d-downstairs and the one that got you isn't g-going to be a problem anymore. Although af-after what he did to you, I-I should have kept him alive a little l-longer."

 

There's something dark in his voice that has her suppressing a shiver. She immediately ignores that and turns her head to the gash in her arm. "Bullet didn't go in, it just kind of grazed me. Still hurts like a bitch though."

 

Toby nods, and from the crinkle of his eyes, she can tell he's smiling behind his mask. "Yeah I kn-know how that feels. Not very f-fun. Hang on, I think I saw a fi-first aid kit in the bathroom d-downstairs while we were looking around." He stands and gives her hand a squeeze before leaving the room.

 

Natalie sighs and lets her head fall back against the bed frame.  _I'll figure out feelings later_ , she thinks to herself.  _Right now I need to focus on not bleeding out all over the floor._ She attempts to take off her jacket, but finds herself biting back a pained yell as the pain bites at her. Natalie tries to close her eyes and breathe but every ounce of her body is screaming in agony. She's never felt pain like this, not even when she put stitches into her face or gouged her own eye out. She figures the adrenaline from being shot at had worn off and now she had to just  _breathe._

 

Footsteps approach, and she opens her eye to see Toby nearly running into the room. He yelps and cracks his neck, then sits down next to her. He examines her arm, as gently as he can. "It's not d-deep so that's a good sign. Can you take o-off your jacket?"

 

Not trusting her voice, she shakes her head. She blinks back tears and feels like an idiot. Why is she crying over not being able to take off her jacket? God, she feels so stupid. A bunch of feelings she'd been keeping under wraps for the past two years all of a sudden came flooding out. She takes a shaky breath in as tears begin to fall from her eye. Toby looks up at her in surprise.

 

"Oh N-Nat-" he takes off his glove and lifts it to her face, cupping her cheek. His hand is warm, and Natalie finds herself melting into his touch. She sniffles, and he wipes the tears off her cheek with his thumb.

 

"Is it t-that bad?"

 

She lets out a laugh, sounding slightly hysterical. "It's not- it's not the pain," she sniffles again, "w-well not entirely. I'm just..." She takes a shaky breath. "I'm just stupid for getting shot is all."

 

"What?" Toby sounds kind of angry, and Natalie flinches back from him out of instinct. He pulls his hand away from her face and raises them, as if in surrender to show he's not a threat. "S-sorry." He shakes his head. "Nat, you're not s-stupid for getting shot. Why w-would you think that?"

 

"Because I'm useless!" She blurts out before she can stop herself. Hysterics take over again, and suddenly she's sobbing. He moves forward and takes her into his arms, avoiding her injured arm as well as he can. With her good arm, she pulls him closer by the front of his hoodie and cries into his shoulder.

 

They sit there for a while, Natalie crying and Toby talking to her softly. She can barely hear what he's saying but she focuses on his voice and calms herself down enough to take her hand off of his jacket and wipe her face. Toby leans back and gently runs a hand through her hair, pushing it back from her tear-and snot-stained face. As he stands to grab the tissue box sitting on the dresser, she winces at the mess she's made of his hoodie.

 

Toby offers her a tissue, which she takes and cleans her face up the best she can. She sniffles again, feeling incredibly pathetic. "I'm sorry."

 

"Don't a-apologize, Nat." He sits back and grabs the first aid kit. It's not much, but it's better than what they have. Toby begins rifling through it, humming absentmindedly as he pulls out antiseptic wipes, painkillers, and bandages. He reaches for her jacket, easing it off her shoulders and setting it down gently. She almost starts crying again at the huge hole in the sleeve. Toby hands her the painkillers and moves to her side to begin treating the wound. 

 

"Sor-" She begins, but Toby interrupts her. "Nat, r-really, you don't have to apologize for f-feeling overwhelmed. You just g-got shot." He opens up a antiseptic wipe and begins cleaning the gash. She hisses and lets her eye close, head thunking against the bed frame once again. 

 

"Wh-why did you say you're useless?" Natalie's eye snaps open, and she turns her head to look at him. He's not looking at her, too focused on fixing her up. 

 

"I-I don't know. I've just-" She sighs. "I've felt like that for a while now I guess."

 

Toby scowls, but stays quiet, except to let out a quick bark. They sit in silence for a bit before Natalie feels she has to elaborate. "I mean, you know how I grew up. I wasn't exactly anyone's first choice for anything except who to kick down the stairs." she lets out a humorless laugh. "And then with Chris... I don't know. I just expected after what happened that it would be so easy to come here and kill people. But all I ever seem to do is fuck up on missions. No one really likes me. I'm still nobody's first choice."

 

"You're my first choice," he says quietly. Natalie looks at him shocked. She's never heard him that serious before, or talk without his usual stutter. She realizes he's blushing, then feels blood start to rush to her face, and she looks away from him. He finishes wiping up the wound and begins setting bandages over it and wrapping it up with gauze. There's silence again, somehow both awkward and comfortable. She watches the tree branches wave out the window as the wind begins to pick up. Sure enough, the rumble of thunder sounds in the distance and she sighs.

 

"Gonna be fun walking back in this," she grumbles.

 

Toby laughs and yips. "I mean, the k-keys to that guy's truck are ha-hanging up downstairs. We could just b-borrow it."

 

Natalie snorts. "Borrow it?" She remembers the bloody pulp they made in the basement before the cops showed up. "Y'know, I don't think he'll mind too much."

 

"He owes i-it to us, I t-think. F-first we get s-sent out here because he's a-a little too nosy, then h-he has the audacity to c-call the police on us!" Toby says, and Natalie giggles. All the awkwardness from before is gone from the room and she finds herself smiling fondly at him. He looks up from wrapping the gauze and  _wow their faces are really close._

 

Before she can say or do anything, Toby abruptly stands up, face more flushed than before. "Uh I-I'm no Brian but I t-think you'll be g-good until we get back." He glances at her jacket, and then pulls his own hoodie off. Natalie catches a sliver of his pale, freckled stomach before he pulls his t-shirt down and she forces herself to look away. Toby cracks his neck and offers her the hoodie.

 

"Toby I-"

 

He shakes his head. "You c-can wear it, I'll b-be okay."

 

"I don't want you to be cold though!"

 

"I'll be fine. We're driving back anyways. You need it more than I do."

 

She pulls it on, if only to stop his nagging. He helps her with the sleeve of her injured arm and then helps her stand up. She's able to take a few steps, with his assistance and they make their way downstairs. He helps her sit on the couch and hands her her now torn and bloodstained blue jacket. He bustles around, grabbing their backpacks from the basement, pouring the gasoline they found in the garage on any surface he can find, grabbing the truck keys, all while she sits on the couch. She still feels pretty useless. Natalie glares are the hole in her jacket.

 

"What's t-that look for?" Toby asks, tossing the now empty gasoline can into the kitchen.

 

"It's just that... I've had this jacket for forever. I just feel dumb that it's shredded."

 

Toby nods. He doesn't say anything, and Natalie's kind of grateful She's never sure what's going to come out of his mouth, and she's sure it'll be something that'll make those weird feelings she usually pushes down come back. He puts the first aid kit into his backpack and motions for her to hand him her jacket, which she does. He puts that in her backpack and puts on both. He flips the keys from one hand to the other and spreads his arms in a sort of 'tah-dah!' motion, which makes her laugh. Toby helps her stand from the couch, and they walk to the truck parked out in the driveway.

 

The rain is absolutely pouring by the time they make it to the truck, and Natalie feels guilty for taking his hoodie as he helps her climb into the passenger seat. He moves around to the driver's side and is soaked to the bone once he climbs in and starts the truck. Thankfully, the heating works in the beat up old pickup and they sit for a while, waiting to warm up. After a few minutes, Toby shivers and opens his door once again and heads back to the house to light the waterproof matches from his bag. The fire won't last too long in the rain, but enough evidence will get burned by the time the flames are extinguished. He jogs back to the truck and all but jumps in, putting the pickup in reverse and backing out of the driveway.

 

They drive through the woods in relative silence, the only sound being the classical music quietly playing on the radio. After a while, Toby reaches over with one hand and takes Natalie's good hand in his own. He doesn't look at her, even when she turns to him with a raised eyebrow.

 

"I-I know you're going to t-think I'm just saying t-this, but I really meant what I s-said back there. You might th-think you're no one's f-first choice, a-and that you're useless, but t-that couldn't be any f-further from the truth." He yips and cracks his neck before continuing. "I think y-you're amazing, Natalie. I r-really do."

 

Natalie doesn't say anything, afraid of what she might say, but she does squeeze his hand, and when he looks at her, she gives him a smile. A real, kind of watery smile, but a smile nonetheless. 

 

"Thank you," she whispers, barely audible. But he smiles, so he must have heard it.

 

They sit in silence for a bit longer before a thought comes to her mind. "Hey Toby?"

 

"Y-yeah?"

 

"Why'd you say you know how it feels to get shot? You can't feel pain, right?"

 

Toby laughs. "Doesn't m-mean I can't feel it." He barks and knocks on the steering wheel. "Ann p-pulled a bullet out of my leg a f-few months back. I t-think you were on a mission w-with Jane. I c-could feel all of it, j-just didn't need p-painkillers."

 

"Sounds useful," Natalie muses.

 

"T-that's exactly w-what Tim said," he laughs.

\----

As soon as they pull up to the dilapidated-looking house in the middle of the woods, Toby immediately darts out of the truck and around to help Natalie to the ground. The painkillers have worn off, and she's filled with a dull ache. He practically lifts her out of the truck, and Natalie's scrambled mind marvels at how deceptively strong he is for someone so thin. She's half carried, half walks up to the front door and the next few moments are a blur. She remembers voices of the others asking what happened, then she feels a new set of hands, touching her arm and then helping Toby help her walk to a familiar room. She's set on the infirmary's metal table, and Brian's face comes into her swimming vision.

 

"How you feeling?" He asks, voice soft. She always preferred Brian over Ann, despite Ann actually being a nurse. The usually hooded man had a better bedside manner in her opinion.

 

"I'm-" She shakes her head, trying to focus. By the door, she notices Toby placing the first aid kit from the house on a counter and then grabbing something from the sewing kit. Maybe he had injuries too? It would be like him to care for someone else over himself. Her heart ached and she mentally told it to shut up.

 

"Natalie?" Brian's snapping his fingers to get her attention. He's one of the few people in the house who knows her real name. "Are you with me?"

 

"Y-yeah. Sorry. Got shot at."

 

"I know." Brian's gathering things from around the room and pulling on gloves. "Toby told me everything on our way down here. How are _you_ feeling though?"

 

She runs a hand though her hair, feeling the grease stick to her fingers. "Kind of gross, honestly."

 

Brian laughs, not expecting that. "Well, I mean it's somethin'. Better than dying. I'm gonna give you some strong painkillers then I'm gonna stitch you up, okay?" She nods, and he pushes Toby's hoodie up enough that her injured arm and part of that side is exposed. The rest of her is still covered in the hoodie. She hears the clink of glass then feels the needle enter her skin.

 

The next thing she knows, she's laying in her own bed feeling like her head weighs about 50 pounds. She rolls over from her back to her good side and sees someone (probably Brian) has set up a little TV tray table next to her bed. There's a glass of water and a note on it, as well as some thick thing of fabric. She ignores that and reaches for the glass, downing half of it at once. The notes says to drink the glass and get some sleep and not use her injured arm as much as possible. There's also a few pills on the stand, which she takes with her next sip of the water. Sitting up some more, she reaches for the fabric.

 

It turns out to be her jacket. Toby must've returned it while she was sleeping. She hums, smoothing her hand over it. Natalie pauses, lifting the sleeve up to her face to see it better. The hole was gone. Actually, the hole had been stitched up, a little awkwardly, but enough to fix it completely. She turned it over, looking amazed. She heard a crinkle in the pocket and pulled out another note.

 

_Nat-_

_Thought this would cheer you up. Also I kind of want my hoodie back if this is a good enough trade._

_-Toby_

 

Tears threatened to form in her eye again, and she blinked them back. A part of her had really believed he'd only said those things back at the house to clam her down or cheer her up. But he listened to her about the jacket, and had cared enough to steal sewing supplies from the infirmary (at the risk of being yelled at by Brian and Ann) to fix it for her. 

 

She set her jacket back on the side table and laid back down, pulling his hoodie up around her face and taking a deep breath. It smelled like pine, fire smoke, and sweat, something that shouldn't smell good together but was very Toby, so Natalie liked it.

 

Natalie smiled and let her eye close. She'd give it back in the morning, but for tonight, she wanted his hoodie all to herself.

 

 

**III**

Jane and Natalie are exploring the upstairs part of the house while Toby takes care of the bodies in the basement. This job wasn't as hard as they previously thought (although, with the size of the father's gun safe in the bedroom and the amount of weapons in the basement, Natalie was kind of glad the three of them were all sent together). It didn't take too long to take the family out, the dad having been killed first in order for no one to use the weapons against them The mother had been getting a little too nosy about the mysterious disappearances in the woods, and the boy had been drawing pictures of a mysterious tall man in a suit, so they'd been sent to dispatch the family.

 

Now, with hours until nightfall, they had nothing really to do except wait for the cover of night to leave.

 

Natalie hated jobs like this, ones in perfectly normal suburban neighborhoods. For one thing, they had to be in the house before dawn and wait to leave until after sunset. Too many witnesses could mean bad news for them. For another, it reminded Natalie of her childhood house and the memories associated with that. She liked the jobs where they were sent to take out hikers walking too close to the house or weird recluses living alone in the middle of nowhere.

 

But Natalie didn't get to pick her missions, so here she was.

 

The teenage girl's bedroom was a sickening shade of yellow, with photographs and fairy lights hanging on the wall. Natalie was sitting on the comfortable beanbag in the corner while Jane snooped around in the dresser drawers. The masked girl pulled a diary out of the sock drawer and snorted. She tossed it onto the bed and moved on to the vanity in the other corner.

 

"Oh, Clocky look!" Jane turned around, mask pulled to the side of her head. In her hands were a few bottles of nail polish. "It's been years since I've had my nails painted."

 

Natalie laughed. "What, are we gonna have a sleepover now? Do each other's hair and makeup? Talk about cute boys?" She coughed. "Or girls?"

 

Jane snorted, and turned back to the vanity. "I mean, the foundation she has  _is_ your color..."

 

"Jane-"

 

"Oh Clockwork, _please?_  It's been so long since I've been able to be a girly girl. And I can't exactly do my own makeup-" She gestures to her half burned face. "-So can I do yours? We can take it off before we leave tonight."

 

Natalie sighed. "I guess we're not doing anything else right now."

 

Jane actually  _squeals_ in delight and starts gathering stuff. Natalie stands up and cracks her back. She walks over to the chair the raven-haired girl is motioning towards and sighs.

 

"Just don't make me look dumb."

 

Jane scoffs. "Of course not. I actually know how to do makeup, unlike  _some_ people we know." She begins rummaging through the products on the vanity. "Now just sit tight, this'll be fun!

\----

It's nearly 45 minutes later, and Natalie has to admit she's actually having fun. Despite her earlier worries, Jane is actually very good at makeup. She avoids her stitches and the clock eye, but manages to apply makeup to the rest of her face like a professional. She even found a hairbrush and some styling tools in a basket underneath the bed and started working on Natalie's rats nest she called her hair. 

 

Natalie really likes hanging out with Jane. Besides Toby, she'd been one of the first friends she'd made at the house. They got along like a house on fire, even if they couldn't hang out as often as they both would like. And there was something therapeutic about being with another girl. Natalie and Jane gossiped about the others, and even with a bit of teasing about Toby, Natalie doesn't get mad like she used to. Jane obviously noticed this but didn't say anything, instead giving her a smirk before focusing on her hair again. 

 

Jane talked about a girl she'd met on a mission, and how she hadn't freaked out about her burns. She talked about her dreamily, absentmindedly smiling as she curled Natalie's hair. As payback about being teased for Toby, she ribbed Jane a bit about the girl, but for the most part was supportive about her. It was nice to just talk about girls and get her hair done. Natalie felt normal for once. Jane seemed to feel the same way, from the soft smile on her face, and the squeeze to Natalie's shoulder as she turned the curling iron off and set it on the vanity.

 

Jane spun the chair around, salon style and her mouth dropped open. "Oh wow, Clocky. I mean, you're a stunner normally, but holy shit." She mussed with her hair a bit, before nodding, satisfied. "You ready to see yourself?"

 

"I mean, I guess." She braced herself. Not that she didn't believe Jane, but there was a little voice inside her head telling her that she could never be as beautiful as anyone else.

 

Jane smiles. "I mean it. You're a real looker, y'know?" She laughs. "I'm kind of sad we'll have to take this off in a few hours. But at least we'll have our nail polish!"

 

"Nails after this, yeah?"

 

"Yeah. Okay! Are you ready?" At Natalie's nod, Jane turned the chair around so she could look in the mirror for the first time since they began.

 

Natalie gaped at her reflection. She barely recognized herself, if not for the stitches and the eye. Her usually blotchy and rough skin was smoothed out, still pale but full of a lively pink blush. Her cheekbones were prominent from the contour, and her lips were full and a soft, natural pink. Her eye was what surprised her the most. With eyeliner and a fake lash, Natalie's eye seemed bigger, the subtle green in the eyeshadow reflecting the green in her eye.

 

"Clocky?" She turns to see Jane, looking at her hopefully. Natalie realizes she's stood up from the chair and is leaning over the vanity to look at herself closely in the mirror.

 

"I-I look-" She blinks a few times and looks back in the mirror. "Wow."

 

Jane laughs. "I know right?"

 

"Thank you, Jane. Really." She gestures to her face. "Not just for this but for-"

 

"I know." Jane smiles. She claps her hands together. "Now! Nails?"

 

Natalie nods. "And maybe I could do your hair too-"

 

Before she can finish her sentence, there's footsteps approaching and the door opens.

 

"Hey g-guys, I just finished the- Wow." Toby stops dead in his tracks, staring at Natalie.

 

Jane recovers first, smirking at Natalie. "Y'know, I think I saw a pair of clippers in the bathroom. I might go touch up my sides while you guys chat." She runs a hand over her grown-out side shave and smirks at Natalie again before leaving he room, closing the door behind her. The click of the door makes Toby snap out of it, shaking his head slightly and finally looking away from Natalie. She can see a blush starting to form across his cheeks.

 

"S-sorry, you just l-look-" He yips nervously and cracks his neck.

 

Natalie takes a step closer. "Jane wanted to do makeup," she runs a hand through her hair, "I figured 'what the hell' right?" she laughs nervously. Why is she so nervous? It's Toby for christsakes. 

 

Oh God.

 

Is she nervous about Toby?

 

She jumps off that train of thought before it can crash. Natalie takes another step towards Toby, causing him to look up at her.

 

"Do you like it?" She asks before she can stop herself. Her stomach does flip flops inside her.  _What if he says no?_

 

Toby's staring at her like she's crazy. "D-do I like it? N-Nat, you l-look... I m-mean you always l-look b-beautiful but now y-you look like... insanely c-crazy beautiful. L-like you just s-stepped out of a m-magazine."

 

"Toby-"

 

"No, I m-mean it, Natalie. Y-you look amazing." He steps closer to her, knocking a few times as he gets a better look at her. She hopes desperately that the makeup is thick enough to cover up her blush. They haven't been this close, face to face, in a while and it surprises her how much taller he is than her. She also notices he's filled out pretty nicely, his shoulders and chest now broad with lean muscle. He's not the scrawny teenager she met in the woods all those years ago.

 

Natalie studies his face, not sure where else to look. Scars on top of pale, freckled skin. He has a bit of scruff around his jawline and she has the weirdest urge to cup his face and feel it. She's suddenly very aware of how close they are, how her jacket is laying on the back of the vanity chair, so he can definitely see the goosebumps on her arms. Natalie briefly lets her eyes drop down to his lips, before clearing her throat and taking a step back. Toby shakes his head and runs a hand through his hair awkwardly. They're both silent for a while before he speaks up again.

 

"Is-is that n-nail polish?"

 

Natalie laughs, grateful for the subject change. "Yeah, Jane found it. We were gonna do our nails."

 

"My s-sister used to p-paint my nails when I was a k-kid." He smiles, lost in his thoughts. He yips and claps his hands.

 

"Well, I can do yours if you want?"

 

Toby laughs. "Don't y-you think the g-guys will make fun of m-me for it?" 

 

Natalie rolls her eye. "Gender roles are for losers anyways. Also, I'm pretty sure Tim wear nail polish occasionally. I don't know where he gets it though." Toby laughs again.

 

Jane comes back in, probably expecting to find the two tearfully confessing their love or kissing, but instead finds them sitting cross legged on the floor. Natalie's painting Toby's fingernails as he tells her a story of a dog he saw on another mission.

 

"Hey guys!" Jane says, sitting next to them. "Can I join?"

 

Natalie smiles at her, looking more relaxed and happy than Jane has probably ever seen her. "Of course! Pick your color, I can do yours next."

 

Surprising no one, Jane picks black. Toby goes for a nice dark purple, and Natalie picks a soft blue. The trio sits for a while and paints nails. Jane continues to gossip, and Toby surprisingly adds to it with his knowledge of the guys of the group and those who don't talk to Jane. It's pleasant, and Natalie can't help but feel like a normal teenager. 

 

_Is this what having actual friends is like?_

 

The hour gets late. The sun starts to set and they pack up their bags. Jane does sneak the nail polish into her backpack, winking at Natalie before putting her mask back on. After their nail polish session, Toby had gone into the bathroom and given himself a quick haircut, and Natalie refuses to look at him, since everytime she does, she feels like her heart might jump out of her chest.

 

Before they leave, Toby is pouring gasoline around the house as Jane and Natalie wait by the backdoor, keeping an eye out. Jane suddenly taps Natalie on the shoulder and offers her some makeup wipes.

 

Natalie shakes her head and glances at Toby. "I think... I think I might keep it on for a while." She ignores Jane's stifled laugh.

 

_Not that you need to_ , a voice in her head says. _He already thinks you're beautiful_.

 

**IV**

Natalie is alone in her room, reading a book when there's a knock at the door. 

 

"Come in," she calls out. The door opens, revealing Toby, fresh from a mission and still in his goggles and mask.

 

She scrambles to sit up, making room for him to sit on her bed. "I thought you were going to be gone for another day?"

 

He shrugs. "It w-was an easy one. It's wh-why I went by m-myself." Natalie nods, not mentioning how she'd been almost sick with worry for the past few days.

 

"Not that I don't enjoy the company, but if you just got back, why my room first?" Toby twitched, and then took off his backpack, setting it on the floor.

 

"I b-brought you so-something." He unzipped the bag, pulling out a leatherbound book and a thin silver box.

 

He offers them to her and she takes them. "What are they?"

 

"A s-sketchbook and some pencils. I know y-you like to d-draw and I figured you c-could use something besides c-crayons from Sally and bits of n-notebook paper-" She interrupts him by wrapping her arms around him and pulling him into a hug. He stiffens, then relaxes into it, bringing his arms up to hold her too.

 

"Thank you," she whispers. They embrace for a few more seconds before she pulls away to look at the sketchbook. She flips through the blank pages, marveling at how smooth they feel as Toby stands up from the bed. He takes off his mask and goggles, and then his hoodie and boots leaving him in just his jeans and tank top. He stretches, back popping, and cracks his neck before laying down on his back across Natalie's bed.

 

"Oh please, make yourself at home," She says sarcastically. He flips her off and she laughs. She pulls one of the pencils out of the box and smells it. She's always loved the smell of freshly sharpened pencils.

 

Toby yawns and places his hands on his chest. "D-do you mind if I nap in h-here? I d-don't feel like going b-back to my room."

 

"Go ahead," she says, looking over the sketchbook again. She runs through a list of things she could draw before Toby's light snoring distracts her. She studies him, his scarred face looking softer, almost younger in his sleep. She lifts her pencil to the blank page and begins to draw.

 

She's studied Toby's face before, but now that she's drawing it, she really gets to admire it. The bit of baby fat he'd had when they'd fist met was long gone, replaced with sharp cheekbones and a prominent jawline. There's freckles all over his face, and down his neck too. His nose is a bit crooked, probably from a fight back when he was in school, but Natalie finds it charming. There's a scar on his right eyebrow, too light to really notice, especially in contrast with the rest of the scars on his face.

 

She begins to draw out the hole in his cheek, his teeth nearly peeking through. Other scars branched out from that one, up to his temple and around his eye and down to his throat. She's surprised he didn't lose an eye along with the chunk of his face. She almost laughs at that, thinking about how they'd match then. He twitches in his sleep, and she notices his dimples show even when he's grimacing.

 

Natalie adds a quick sketch in the corner of the page of Toby awake and smiling, worried that her drawing of him asleep wouldn't capture the liveliness in his eyes when he smiles. She draws the soft smile he gets when he talks about his sister. As she draws it, she realizes she sees it a lot more than she thinks she does. It's the same smile he gives her when she makes him laugh. A warm feeling suddenly passes through her, and she swallows roughly. Natalie gives up on the smile sketch and moves back to the actual drawing of his sleeping face.

 

She moves on to his hair, wild brown curls that he can never seem to tame. She remembers one time he got so much blood in his hair that Tim had to practically shave his head. He'd been so embarrassed until Natalie asked Tim to shave half of her head. Toby had practically beamed at her when he saw what she'd done, running his hand over the downy soft short part of her hair.

 

_"W-why'd you d-do it?" He'd asked._

 

_"I didn't want you to be alone," she'd replied. He'd pulled her into a huge hug and they had laughed about it._

 

Natalie is struck by the urge to run her fingers through his curls as she sketches them out on the paper. She wonders if it would be soft. It certainly looks soft. Although he did just get back from a mission and hadn't showered yet. Her thoughts suddenly move to him in the shower and she flushes bright red and shakes her head violently to rid herself of the thought. She sighs and goes back to drawing

\----

Toby twitches himself awake and blinks around the room blearily. The sun has set and he feels a lot less tired, so he's willing to bet it's been a good few hours. Natalie is sitting against the wall in the corner of her bed, sketching in her new book.

 

"H-hey." He says, breaking the silence. His voice is rough from sleep. Natalie nearly jumps out of her skin.

 

"I didn't know you were awake, sorry." Natalie sets the book down on her pillow and stretches. "Are you hungry?"

 

"Starving."

 

They head down to the kitchen. It's late enough so that no one's really in there except Tim who's sitting at the table, drinking a coffee. He nods at them when they walk in. Toby makes himself a sandwich while Natalie settles for a sleeve of crackers and a glass of water. She heads into the dining room to sit at the table with Tim.

 

"So did you like your present?" The normally masked man asks. Natalie looks up at him in surprise.

 

"How did you know about that?"

 

Tim chuckles and takes a sip of coffee. "Kid's been talking about it for weeks. He's been saving up for a while. He wanted to get you a really nice sketchbook."

 

Natalie feels her face flush. "He did?" So he didn't find the book at all. He bought it? The pencils too?

 

Tim drains the rest of his coffee. "He wanted to get you something nice." He stands and pats the back of her hand before heading into the kitchen to wash his mug.

 

Toby walks out then, mouth full of sandwich. He sits next to Natalie and they eat in silence for a while. Natalie's thoughts are running a million miles an hour. She wonder how she can pay him back for the gift. Not that he'd let her buy anything for him. Suddenly an idea came to her.

 

She jumped out of her chair. "I'll be right back!" She said, then took off towards the staircase. Toby looked at her chair then at the direction she ran, shaking his head slightly. He'd never get used to her it seemed.

\----

After Toby ate his food, he got distracted by an argument between Nina and Jane which he had to help Brian defuse. By the time that was over with, he needed a shower and to sleep in his own bed. He quickly took a hot shower, then changed into a pair of shorts that had probably been Tim's at one point before heading back to his room. His door was open, which was strange since he didn't remember leaving it that way when he left a few days ago. He shrugged and yawned, cracking his neck before pulling back his blankets to lay down in the wonderful embrace of his own bed.

 

A piece of paper folded up on his pillow made him stop though. Written on the outside was a simple " _T- thanks for the new book_ " in Natalie's messy handwriting. He smiled for a second, then unfolded it and gaped at what was on it.

 

Natalie had drawn them together (not like, together together, just standing next to her). Drawing-Natalie is mid laugh and drawing-Toby has the softest smile on his face that real-Toby has ever seen. A moment of panic seizes his heart, and he wonders if that's how he really looks at Nat. Then he relaxes, realizing that she must not be too worried about it if she's drawing it.

 

Suddenly filled with energy, Toby heads over to Natalie's room, pushing open the slightly open door and about to say something like thank you before he stops dead in his tracks.

 

Natalie is asleep on her bed, wearing the hoodie he left on her floor. Her blankets are awkwardly pushed off of her and her new sketchbook is laying open on the pillow next to her. Toby smiles, warmth flooding through him. He cracks his neck and walks towards the bed. He pulls her blankets up around her properly and takes the sketchbook, about to put it on the nightstand when he notices the drawing she'd been working on. It's of him. Toby really has to hand it to Nat, she's really good at making people look incredibly pretty in her drawings. He knows he must've been snoring and drooling away when she drew this, but she really made him look peaceful.

 

Toby smiles and places the book on her nightstand. He turns back to Natalie, who's still sleeping. He brushes a lock of hair out of her face before whispering "good n-night" and shutting the lamp off. He leaves the room and heads back to his. He finally crawls into his own bed and spends a few minutes staring at the drawing she made of them before rolling over and falling fast asleep.

 

**V**

They're walking through the woods on a surprisingly warm Autumn day. They do this a lot, just go on long walks together. They never really talk, just enjoy each other's company for a while. They usually walk to the lake that's about a mile and half out from the house and sit on the shore. Natalie usually brings her sketchbook and draws whatever pops into her head. Toby brings a book or something to fix to keep his hands busy. They usually never run into anyone near the lake, which is nice because they don't have to hide their faces and Toby feels more comfortable with his tics and stims.

 

They make it to the lake by noon, and Natalie sits on the blanket they've brought and starts tapping her pencil against the page. She's running out of space in the sketchbook Toby got her a few months back, and she'd already planning on finding a new one the next time she's in a town for a mission. Toby settles next to her, an old handheld AM radio in one hand and a screwdriver in the other. He'd found it discarded along the road and wanted to see if it still worked.

 

The pair sit in companionable silence for an hour. Natalie sketches some trees and the lake, trying to capture the movement on a still drawing. Toby fiddles with the radio, trying to get it to turn on. He takes a break to eat an apple, and compliment Nat's drawing before getting back to it. Finally, as he's about to give up, the radio sparks to life. Natalie and Toby both look at it in shock before Toby cheers.

 

"F-finally. I thought I'd n-never get it!"

 

The song that crackles through is some old song, with a woman crooning about her lover. Toby cracks his neck. "I know t-this song."

 

"Really?"

 

"Y-Yeah. My mom h-had this old r-record player. She us-used to play her music on it w-while she cooked d-dinner."

 

Natalie nodded, reaching for the volume dial to turn it up. "I've always liked this kind of music. It reminds me of old movies. Or like the prom scene in Back to the Future."

 

Toby laughs. "I d-don't think they'd p-play anything like th-this at a prom n-now."

 

"Hmmm. Maybe not. Did you go to your prom?" Natalie closes her sketchbook and turns to face him.

 

"N-No I'd already d-dropped out by then. P-Plus who'd want to g-go to prom with the f-freak?"

 

The man on the radio begins speaking in a soft, dulcet voice introducing the [next song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvxagNIBVLU). Natalie feels angry, not at Toby but at the people who bullied him. It's not the first time she's felt like that, and it probably won't be the last.

 

She stands up and brushes herself off before turning to face him. "Toby Rogers, will you go to prom with me?"

 

Toby raises his eyebrows. "Uh, w-what?"

 

"You heard me. Dance with me."

 

Toby opens his mouth to say something, then closes it. He yips, and stands up, looking awkward. "I've n-never danced with someone l-like this-"

 

"It's okay," she reassures him and offers her hand. He smiles at her warmly, and takes her hand. She guides his hands to her hips and places hers on his shoulders. They begin swaying and Natalie is, once again surprised at how much taller he is than her. She should be used to it by now, but it always seems to slip her mind until incredibly inopportune moments. Toby's looking down at her like she's the only person in the world and that thought makes her heart nearly skip a beat. They continue swaying and spinning until the song ends.

 

"I'm a-a bit dizzy," Toby says, not taking his eyes off of Natalie.

 

"Well maybe we should stop spinning," she replies. They stop, but continue to hold onto each other. Toby looks like he's about to say something when they suddenly hear the unmistakable sound of a car approaching. They scramble to let go of each other and grab the blanket and their things before booking it back into the woods. As they run, they both begin laughing and have to brace themselves against trees to catch their breath. The whole situation they were just in was absolutely ridiculous and they just needed to laugh it out.

 

Natalie looks up from where she's bent over, trying to catch her breath when she sees Toby laughing, lit up practically gold by the Autumn light. The breath that she almost caught is gone again and she can't help staring at him. He catches her eye and smiles.

 

"Is t-there something on m-my face?"

 

Natalie coughs and looks away. "No, sorry. Just distracted. We should head back now." He nods and they head back to the house, the warmth of the golden light setting behind them.

 

**+1**

Jeff is the one who comes to get her, which is her first sign something is very wrong. 

 

He barges into her room, not even knocking and glares at her as if _she's_ the one bothering him. Before she can say anything, he says "Listen tick-tock. Your boyfriend's bleeding out on the kitchen table. He's asking for you."

 

_Toby._

 

Natalie drops her book and sprints out her door, shoving Jeff aside to run to the kitchen. She bursts in the room to see pretty much everyone crowded around the table, which is covered in a white sheet and a bloodstained body. Tim, still wearing his mask catches her eye and seems to read her mind. He starts corralling everyone out of the kitchen, pausing only to give Natalie's shoulder a comforting squeeze.

 

Thankfully, it's not just her and Toby in the kitchen. Brian and Ann are next to him, stripping his bloodstained hoodie off of him and examining his wounds. There's so much blood, too much and she forces herself to step forward. As she does, she can hear Toby's quiet moans. Not of pain, but of anguish. He's scared, and the only word coming out of his mouth is her name.

 

"I'm here, I'm here. Toby look, I'm here" Natalie said, stepping forward until she's right at his head. He opens his eyes and reaches for her with the hand that isn't currently being examined by Brian.

 

"Nat?" His voice cracks. She nods and takes his hand in both of hers, sitting in the one remaining chair at the table next to him.

 

"I'm here, Toby. You're going to be okay."

 

"Did-Didn't want to d-die without you h-here."

 

"You're not dying, Toby, c'mon." She takes a deep breath to calm herself.

 

"It's b-bad"

 

"I've seen worse," she lies, if only to make herself feel better.

 

"I c-can't feel it and even I k-know it's not g-good."

 

"Toby please-" She isn't sure where she's going with this. "Please don't say that. I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here."

 

Brian speaks up. "I'm going to set the bone in your arm. Count of three-"

 

Natalie tightens her hands around his.

 

"One... Two..." Before he even makes it to three, Brian snaps his hands and sets the bone. Toby barely flinches. "Good job Toby. We're gonna clean up your stomach and stitch you up, alright?" Brian turns to Natalie. "Keep an eye on him. Keep him talking, but don't let him get too loopy. The fever is setting in and if you notice him losing consciousness, tell us immediately." Natalie nods and Brian goes to join Ann at Toby's stomach.

 

Natalie turns back to Toby who's staring at her. "I s-still can't believe y-you're here."

 

"Course I'm here. You asked for me. And I-" She stops herself. What was she about to admit? Suddenly all of the feelings, all of the memories of being with Toby over the past few years came flooding back. 

 

_Fuck it. Need to come to terms with it eventually._

 

She leans forward and kisses his knuckles. He looks at her surprised. She takes one of her hands off of his and cups his face. "Toby, I don't know if you'll remember this but I need to tell you this in... in case you don't-" She takes a shaky breath.

 

"Toby, I love you." Natalie says.

 

It's like a bomb went off in the kitchen. It's eerily quiet, except for Toby's heavy breathing.

 

"You l-love me?" He asks, his face starting to form a smile.

 

She can't help it, she lets out a soft laugh and kisses the inside of his wrist. "Yeah, well don't get too excited about it. You need to make it through this first, yeah?"

 

Toby smiles and starts to say something, before he starts to slur his words and his eyes begin to shut. Natalie screams for Brian who immediately moves over to her spot, and assures her that's he's fine, his body has just finally given up and made him go unconscious.

 

"He'll be okay," Brian says, offering her her chair back. She sits down and rests her head on her arm, still clutching Toby's hand in hers.

\----

Natalie snaps awake, with a gasp. Her hand is still in Toby's, who's still laying on the table, his chest moving slowly with each breath. She sighs in relief then looks around the kitchen. Ann is standing by the door, and Brian is packing up the emergency kit. He notices she's awake and offers her a smile. 

 

"Hey," he says quietly. "He'll be okay. We don't want to move him until tomorrow morning. Do you mind staying with him?"

 

"Of course," she says, a little defensive.

 

Brian stifles a laugh. "I should have figured. It'd take an army to separate you guys, huh?" He finishes up packing the case and heads towards the door, before turning back. "Oh and by the way, Ann and I won't say anything to anyone about your, uh... confession."

 

Natalie sighs in relief. "Thanks-"

 

"However, Sally is a bit of a gossip." And with that, he turns and leaves the room. Natalie swears she can hear the little girl's giggle from somewhere in the house and she immediately feels both anger and embarrassment. That was a moment for her and Toby only. She sighs and turns to Toby, who's started to stir. Natalie hears Ann leave the room, most likely wanting to give the two some privacy.

 

Toby blinks awake and groans, taking his hand from Natalie's and running it over his face.

 

"Morning sunshine," she says, "How you feeling?"

 

"Like d-death warmed up in the m-microwave."

 

"Fair. You scared the shit out of all of us. Especially me. Asking for me like you were on your death bed?" She lets out a laugh but it sounds more like a sob. Toby looks over at her.

 

"Did y-you really m-mean what you sa-said?"

 

"I-" Natalie begins to panic. She thought she'd have more time to think about her feelings before having to confront them. Or that he'd be too feverish to really remember what she said, giving her more time to think

 

"It's o-okay if you d-don't."

 

"Huh?"

 

"I m-mean you probably only said that because you thought I was dying." His voice is so genuinely sad that Natalie's heart shatters. _Okay fine_ , she thinks, _no more time for thinking._

 

Natalie takes his face in both of her hands. "Tobias Erin Rogers-" He looks at her surprised, probably having forgotten he'd told her his full name when they first started becoming friends. "You're one of the only people here who actually knows my name or the story behind my eye. You're the only one who actually gave enough of a shit to make me feel welcome here when I first arrived, and the only one who bothered to check up on me. You listened to me about my family, you helped me through nightmares, and yeah, your flirting was awkward but it made me laugh and feel _normal_ for once. Even though you bleeding out on this table is what it took for me to really figure out my feelings, I promise you I've been falling for you since the day we first met."

 

He opens his mouth to say something, then closes it. They sit in silence for a while, just digesting what she said.

 

"Will y-you kiss me?"

 

Natalie smiles softly and nods, leaning up to be within inches of his face, pausing for a second to study his face, a face she's grown to know so entirely well over the years. Then she slowly presses her lips to his. It only takes him a second to warm up to her, and while his lips are kind of chapped, she finds she doesn't mind the feeling all that much. It's very Toby, and she really loves that.

 

She feels daring enough to open her mouth and run her tongue along his lip, asking for entry. Toby gasps, allowing her to lick her way into his mouth. Making out is weird with him, mostly because of the hole in his cheek, but she quickly warms up to it. And he's oh so responsive to her tongue, small whines sounding in his throat. When she pulls her tongue out of his mouth and instead bites his lip gently, a throaty moan threatens to spill from his mouth, and she pulls away smirking. Toby's flushed bright red, and she's pleased to notice his blush has spread to his freckled chest.

 

He lets out a breath and smiles up at her. "So a-are we... l-like together now?"

 

"Toby Rogers, are you asking me to be your girlfriend?"

 

"Why, M-Miss Oullette, I t-think I am."

 

She giggles and presses another kiss to his mouth.

 

"I d-didn't quite c-catch your answer, m-mind running it by m-me again?"

 

Natalie rolls her eye and smacks him on his good shoulder. "Don't make me regret saying yes."

 

"Y-You haven't s-said yes yet!" He's laughing now.

 

"Fine! Yes Toby, I'll be your girlfriend. Now stop talking before I regret it." She says it serious, but the warmth in her voice and softness of her smile betray her.

 

Toby wraps his good arm around her and pulls her down onto his chest. "I love you"

 

She presses a kiss to his freckled shoulder. "I love you too."

 

He lets her sit up, and she takes his good hand and intertwines their fingers. "S-So when do w-we tell people?"

 

"Well, I think Sally's already told everyone by now. She sort of eavesdropped earlier. She's probably told everyone we're getting married."

 

Toby laughs again. "You kn-know, I think w-we should have a s-spring wedding. You'd l-look lovely in p-pastels." He yipped and laughed again.

 

"I was thinking Halloween would be better," she muses. "Would probably fit us better."

 

"Too c-cliche."

 

"Yeah, you're probably right."

 

Toby looked like he was going to say something else, but a huge yawn came out instead. "You should go to bed."

 

"'m n-not sleepy"

 

"Bullshit. I'll be here when you wake up. I promise."

 

"I d-don't want this to b-be a dream."

 

"It isn't." And to prove it, she leaned up and kissed him again.

 

"Hm, y-you might have to do t-that a few more times to c-convince me-"

 

"Go. To. Bed." Natalie said, but her tone was nothing but fond.

 

Toby smiled. "Okay, fine. I love you."

 

"I love you too."

\----

Natalie wakes up with a crick in her neck and a numb arm. She slowly raises her head, groaning in pain. She looks at Toby, who's still asleep, hand still intertwined with hers.

 

' _Yeah_ , Natalie thought with a smile. ' _I could get used to this_.'

 

**Author's Note:**

> Ages in this story:  
> Part 1 - Natalie 16, Toby 17  
> Part 2 - Natalie 18, Toby 19  
> Part 3 - Natalie 19, Toby 20  
> Part 4 - Natalie 21, Toby 22  
> Part 5 - Natalie 21, Toby 22  
> +1 - Natalie 22, Toby 23


End file.
